How to Watch 2022 March Madness Without Cable

What does 68 Division 1 NCAA teams duking it out against each other with nothing else but a pair of good sneakers, one basketball, sweat, grit, and sheer determination look like? It looks like March Madness, where in a timespan just shy of a month, conference teams compete for one invitation — an invitation to the big show: the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. This is a show worth watching, and cable shouldn’t hold you back, especially if you consider yourself among the millions of college basketball fans. Follow along to find out where and when to watch March Madness 100 percent free of cable.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to stream UNC vs. Kansas:

	Price	Channels	Free Trial
#1	$54.99 – $134.99	140+	5 days	Watch Now
#2	$5.99 – $85.96	68 – 88	7 or 30 days	Watch Now
#3	$35 – $50	30+ – 130+	3 days	Watch Now

Table of Contents

• When Is UNC vs. Kansas?
• March Madness Streaming Schedule
• March Madness 2022 Bracket
• How to Watch UNC vs. Kansas Without Cable
• Devices for Streaming March Madness
• More College Basketball Streaming Recommendations

With March Madness coming to an end, we finally have the two teams who will battle it out for the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UNC (8) vs. Kansas (1). While the Kansas Jayhawks were slated as a first seed from the beginning, the North Carolina Tar Heels have come through the ranks and battled some top-tier contenders to end up in this position. If you want to stream the NCAA Championship, then you need all the details for tonight's game:

• When's the UNC vs. Kansas national title match: Monday, April 4
• What time is UNC vs. Kansas: 9:20 p.m. ET / 6:20 p.m. PT
• Where's UNC vs. Kansas occurring: Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana
• What channel is showing UNC vs. Kansas: TBS

The following encompasses the full schedule from the tournament as a recap of how we got to the national title game:

March Madness Schedule

Looking for the 2022 March Madness bracket? We put together our own bracket graphic below that you can use to follow along with the tournament results. Need your own bracket for home? Print it for yourself as the tournament progresses!

Like many big sporting events, March Madness gives us lots of ways to watch online. The best-known option is the NCAA March Madness Live app but know that if you’re cord-cutting, the only streaming service you can use to view this March Madness app is DIRECTV STREAM. Simply open up the March Madness Online app on your smart device, and under settings, select DIRECTV STREAM as your streaming provider. Voila! You’re in and ready to watch!

TBS is the official host of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game between UNC and Kansas. You can stream the national title game on TBS using these streaming services: DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and YouTube TV.

Hulu + Live TV got high marks from us in our Hulu + Live TV review primarily due to its competitive pricing and a vast selection of both live TV and on-demand programming. With Hulu + Live TV, basketball fans will have access to CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV — all of the channels carrying March Madness games this year. When you subscribe to Hulu, you’ll have three options from which to choose. To watch live TV programming, be sure to select the Hulu + Live TV option.

DIRECTV STREAM is a premier streaming service providing both live TV and on-demand selections. DIRECTV STREAM offers four tiers of service, each with its own channel lineup. Additionally, you can choose add-ons to customize your streaming package. March Madness devotees should be happy to know all networks airing March Madness games (CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV) are featured on DIRECTV STREAM. DIRECTV STREAM is one of the only streaming providers you can use to access all games on the official March Madness Live App.

Sling TV is the longest-tenured live TV streaming service on the market, and it's been a favorite of ours since the very first edition of our much-updated Sling TV review. These days, Sling TV has a bit of an issue with major networks — a couple are missing from the Sling TV channel list, and CBS is among those that are MIA. The good news is that TBS, TNT, and TruTV are all available through Sling TV, so you'll still have plenty to watch. Just be sure to pair Sling TV with another solution, like Paramount Plus or an over-the-air antenna, to ensure that you can catch all of the games.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV is a live TV streaming service that offers a cable-like bundle of live TV channels. It competes with the likes of Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV, and it does a pretty good job of holding its own. YouTube TV is a strong option for March Madness because it includes CBS, TBS, TNT, and TruTV — meaning you can catch every game of the tournament on this service.

March Madness Live

Some streaming apps demand that users sign in with pay-TV information. We don't usually include these in our “How to Watch” lists because they aren't “stand-alone” solutions — you still need to pay for cable, satellite, or another form of pay TV (streaming services like Hulu + Live TV can often activate these apps as well).

The March Madness Live app is a little different, though, and we really like it. You can stream three hours on this app for free, no cable login required. That's a far cry from unlimited free NCAA Tournament streaming, but it's also nothing to sneeze at — that will net you a game or two, and can be especially helpful if you have CBS via an antenna or Paramount Plus and just want to grab a little bit of TBS, TNT, or TruTV action on the side.

If you have a DIRECTV STREAM subscription you can also access the March Madness Live app — which may serve as a convenient central hub of games so you don’t have to channel hop to find the one you want. March Madness Live is available on the NCAA’s website as well as in apps for iOS, Android, and other platforms.

Great news: our favorite streaming options for March Madness work really well with our favorite streaming devices and platforms. It's a breeze to set up live TV streaming options like Hulu + Live TV on devices like the Roku Ultra. Let's take a closer look at the full compatibility chart!

You don’t need to pin yourself to a TV to watch March Madness events. Take it on the go with you on most smartphones, tablets, or other smart devices.

Madness is a state of mind, so don't limit yourself to streaming just the big games. If you're looking for news, recaps, and coverage, we recommend streaming ESPN or FS1 network. ESPN Plus is a robust streaming choice for die-hard sports fans, as it will augment your regular sports diet with even more live sports, news and analysis, event replays, and on-demand sports documentaries and specials.

Don't forget that the women's NCAA tournament is in March, too. That tournament's home is the ESPN family of networks. And when all is said and done, get ready for next year by checking out our complete guide to watching college basketball without cable, from the opening tip-off to the final buzzer of the championship game.